Two Jefferson Parish men arrested for alleged commercial crabbing violations

Incident involved 100 pounds of crabs in Grandpa Bayou, LDWF says

Two Jefferson Parish men were arrested for allegedly stealing crabs in Plaquemines Parish, according to a press release from the Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries.

Agents arrested Jesse James Gainey, 45, of Marrero and Clayton Palmasano, 50, of Marrero for allegedly removing the contents of crab traps not owned by them, failing to mark crab traps and theft of crab traps.

Agents set up a surveillance operation Wednesday on a line of crab traps in Grandpa Bayou, and allegedly observed the pair work the line of traps and empty the crabs into their boat, according to the release.

Agents made contact with the men, inspected the traps they were working and found some traps untagged, some with tags cut and some traps with Gainey’s commercial fisherman’s tag on top of another fisherman’s tag.

Six traps were seized and agents returned 100 pounds of crabs to the water, and both men were arrested and booked into the Plaquemines Parish Jail, the release states.

The penalty for removing the contents of crab traps, use of crab traps without required markings and theft of crab traps each carries a maximum fine of $950 or a jail sentence of up to 120 days, or both, plus court cost and the forfeiture of anything seized.